Weekend fire guts building, damages neighboring motel

COLLETON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - A weekend fire at a condemned building gutted the structure and caused damage to a business next door, firefighters say.

Colleton County Fire-Rescue responded at 3:14 p.m. Sunday to a fire in the 80 block of Acorn Road.

The first crews on the scene reported fire coming from the front, rear and roof of the building, which once housed an automotive shop.

Winds carried burning embers from that building onto the roof of the Budgetel Inn, causing the roof to catch fire.

Burning embers from a fire at a condemned building ignited the roof of the Budgetel Inn in... — Burning embers from a fire at a condemned building ignited the roof of the Budgetel Inn in Walterboro on Sunday, firefighters say.(Colleton County Fire-Rescue)

Firefighters were quickly able to extinguish the fire on the motel’s roof and then battled the fire at the former shop.

It was the second time in three months the building caught fire, firefighters say. A fire on March 30 heavily damaged the building leading the county to condemn it.

But squatters had been living inside the two-story building, firefighters say.

No injuries were reported.